NVIDIA Project SHIELD demoes PC-bound Need For Speed: Most Wanted

Today the folks at NVIDIA are once again showing off the PC-streaming prowess of their Project SHIELD device with none other than the game Need For Speed: Most Wanted. It's not often that a game with this much heavy-duty need for graphics backup is seen on a device smaller than a desktop computer - but here it is, in full-on instant-gratification streaming action from the comfort of your couch. Project SHIELD is a device that will soon be delivered by NVIDIA to a retail store near you - at the moment it's still in production.

The NVIDIA Project SHIELD device you're seeing here consists of an amalgamation of gaming excellence, including soft plastic grips, a lovely high definition display, and an NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor under the hood. The whole device runs with Android for high-powered mobile games and has the ability to stream games from a computer in your home network wirelessly - GeForce GTX to the rescue!

This is just one of several games that'll be optimized for play between your NVIDIA GeForce-toting computer and Project SHIELD. While thus far NVIDIA has been focusing on games that can be streamed via Valve's Steam, today the focus is EA Games. The connection today is made with Need For Speed: Most Wanted, but as our NVIDIA host reminds us, Battlefield 3 will also work right out of the box. Each of these games works with a pre-set mapping of controls to the NVIDIA Project SHIELD device, allowing you to jump right in without a hiccup.

With Project SHIELD packed with an NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor, you know you've got an undeniable 72-core GPU under the hood. When you're working with a game streamed from your PC, you're also using the graphics processing power of your GeForce GPU. In this case the computer does "all the heavy lifting" as NVIDIA's Will Park notes, allowing you to work with the game at its full-on usability and graphics potential.

Have a peek at the timeline below for additional insight into this beast of a device and gaming environment as it all unfolds through the future - right here on SlashGear. Along with it, be sure to head to our NVIDIA Tegra hub for more Tegra than your eyes can handle!